Ukraine grain

Workers load grain at a port in Izmail, Ukraine, on April 26. A United Nations-backed deal has been extended allowing shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger.

World News

The Ukraine grain deal is extended 2 months, helping ease the global food crisis

4:04pm May 17, 2023

An agreement allowing Ukrainian grain to ship through the Black Sea has been extended for two months just a day before its expiration — overcoming Russia's threats to pull out of the deal.

China's leader Xi Jinping claps as he listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin via a video link, from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 2, 2019. Xi will meet Putin this week on a visit to Moscow.

Latest on Ukraine: Xi Jinping visits Moscow to meet Putin (March 20)

9:36am March 20, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The U.N.-chartered vessel MV Valsamitis is loaded to deliver 25,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat to Kenya and 5,000 tons to Ethiopia. It is pictured at the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk in February.

World News

Russia agrees to extend the Ukraine grain deal again

1:05pm March 18, 2023

Brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal allows Ukraine to ship food and fertilizer through a humanitarian corridor from Black Sea ports. The duration of the extension remained uncertain.

Ukrainian military personnel receive training on German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks at a Spanish army training center in Zaragoza, Spain, on Monday.

Latest in Ukraine: Expectations are growing for China's Xi Jinping to visit Russia

11:47am March 13, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Asl Tia, a cargo vessel carrying Ukrainian grain, sails on Bosporus to Marmara sea, in Istanbul, on Nov. 2.

World News

Russia and Ukraine renew a grain export deal to help the hungry and keep prices down

10:02am November 17, 2022

by Fatma Tanis

The U.N.-brokered deal to ship Ukrainian grain exports was set to expire on Saturday and will now continue for at least another 120 days.

A boat operator ferries inspectors to the Tzarevich ship, which is carrying 10,000 metric tons of sunflower meal from Chornomorsk, Ukraine, to Bulgaria, on Oct. 6 in Istanbul. The ship stopped en route in the Marmara Sea in order to be checked by officials from the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.

Photos: A close-up look at Ukraine grain export inspections

5:01am November 05, 2022

At the heart of the Ukraine grain export deal is a complex inspection process involving Turkey and the U.N. NPR recently joined a team of inspectors aboard a ship carrying grain in the Marmara sea.

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Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine and awaiting inspections, are seen anchored off the Istanbul coastline on Wednesday in Istanbul, Turkey.

World News

Russia rejoins U.N. deal to ship grain from Ukraine, easing food insecurity concerns

3:14pm November 02, 2022

by Fatma Tanis

Russia, which had suspended participation over the weekend, says the grain deal is back on after assurances that shipping corridors would not be used for military purposes.

Cargo ships loaded with grain in the anchorage area of the southern entrance to the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul on Monday. Ships left Ukrainian ports on Monday despite Russia's decision to pull out from a landmark deal designed to ease a global food crisis.

World News

An intense global scramble is on to keep Ukraine grain deal alive, as Russia pulls out

2:02pm October 31, 2022

by Fatma Tanis

Countries are scrambling to salvage a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain, after Russia said it pulled out indefinitely, a decision that risks worsening global hunger.

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A Russian warship launches a cruise missile at a target in Ukraine on Monday. A massive barrage of Russian strikes hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, knocking out water and power supplies in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet over the weekend.

Ukraine war updates: Russia drops grain deal, claiming drones hit its ships (Oct. 31)

1:01pm October 31, 2022

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A priest prays for unidentified civilians killed by Russian troops in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 11. Eleven unidentified bodies exhumed from a mass grave were buried in Bucha that day.

Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 15)

12:13pm August 15, 2022

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.